


The Secret to a Perfect Partnership

by Zarla



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Banter, Fluff, M/M, Silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-06-09
Updated: 2007-06-09
Packaged: 2017-10-06 04:30:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/49683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zarla/pseuds/Zarla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Otacon knew that their relationship was missing something...but what? What could the best partnership in the world need?<br/>No, he'd already been grocery shopping, so that wasn't it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Secret to a Perfect Partnership

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place sometime after MGS1, before MGS2.

Otacon had felt for some time that there was something missing from their partnership. Some very important, very crucial thing that would truly cement their dedication to their cause and to each other as partners in the line of duty.

He just wasn't sure what it was.

Snake had taught Otacon much of what he thought he should know, about guns and equipment and operating heavy machinery, and Otacon had taken it all in willingly to be able to fight for the (their) cause. Snake was...less receptive to Otacon's attempts to educate him in the fields that Otacon was proficient in, although he was sure Snake would come around in time. No one could resist the lure of coding once they got a taste for it, he knew it.

So what was missing wasn't knowledge...what was it?

When the two of them decided their path for the future, dedicated themselves to making sure no one else suffered for their past mistakes, to bringing peace to the world, Otacon felt more important than he'd ever felt in his entire life. Even though Snake and Mei Ling and the other members of Philanthropy were the only ones who really knew the scope of what they were doing, and Snake the only one who possibly knew his (their) deep motivation for fighting for the future, Otacon felt appreciated and respected. His work had global significance, his plans and programs possibly charting the course of the planet's future history, this time for good. It was heady, exciting work and Otacon felt closer to some of the heroes he admired more than ever before (one of those heroes being Snake himself, and the others being animated in various forms).

A lone organization struggling for world peace. It was poetic, majestic. Heroic. Otacon felt like he was a true hero, struggling with his partner to right wrongs despite all obstacles that stood in their way. It did wonders for his self-confidence and his demeanor, as Snake had pointed out to him once after a particularly heated argument. Snake was right about his demeanor (still wrong about how the toaster got broken though) and Otacon liked the changes it had brought out in him.

He felt at once a part of something so much larger than himself, and still very much a unique individual. When Snake referred to him as his partner, his equal that day (which Otacon had marked on his calendar as when his real life had truly began), Otacon knew that he could never go back. He had to embrace the future he'd chosen and he was, with no regrets.

But there was still something missing from this partnership, from their relationship, to make it complete. Otacon was struggling to think of what it was while the latest episode of Gundam Neo Tokyo Explosion downloaded onto his computer. What could be missing? What had he forgotten? No, he and Snake had gone shopping earlier that day, so that couldn't have been it.

It was something though, something that would make the entire experience perfect. That would really cement the entire experience as something _real_, something that would prove without a shadow of a doubt that Snake considered Otacon his equal, that the two of them would go through thick and thin together, that nothing could stop them, even if he had to drag himself back home from a mission with Snake unconscious on his back.

Well, no, he had to be a bit more honest on that front. It wasn't likely that Otacon would be carrying Snake anywhere. But it was the principle of the thing! Or not the principle...the metaphor. The meaning behind it! At least, that's what he thought a metaphor was, he'd never been particularly good with that kind of thing.

And he still couldn't think of what was missing.

Otacon decided to peruse his collection of fine anime pictures, sure that something in the archives would jog his memory and enlighten him as to what could be missing from the greatest partnership in the world.

After browsing for thirty minutes, reminding himself of what he was doing, then searching more thoroughly and with renewed fervor for ten more, Otacon found his answer.

Otacon peeked into Snake's room to see him doing push-ups on the floor.

"Hey, Snake!"

Snake did a few more before stopping long enough to catch his breath.

"Yeah, Otacon?"

"You know what we need?" Otacon said with barely concealed excitement. Snake paused, did another push-up, then paused again.

"What?"

"A secret handshake!"

Snake stopped mid push-up, his arms trembling to support his weight, and he slowly turned his head to look at him. He looked confused. Weird. What was there to be confused about?

"Why?"

"Because, Snake!" Otacon left it at that for a few seconds, then realized that he might need to clarify that further. "All the greatest partners have a secret handshake! Something that only they know about, only they can share! It's the glue that holds people together during tough times! We have to have something like that!"

Otacon wasn't sure why Snake wasn't nearly as excited about this fantastic idea as he was. In fact, Snake did not seem enthused about it at all. Snake pushed himself up and leaned back on his heels, still staring at him with inexplicable confusion.

Snake shook his head, beads of sweat glistening on his skin. "Why would we need a handshake?"

"I just told you!" Otacon huffed in annoyance. "When we have a secret handshake it'll mean we're really _partners_. That we're really friends to the very end. Even if you get arrested, people can't take away your handshake! It's something that stays with the best partners to the grave. _The grave_, Snake."

Snake got the same look on his face like when Otacon was reading out of that book of proverbs Mei Ling gave him.

"...Why a handshake and not something else?" he finally said. Otacon made an annoyed noise.

"Handshakes are the most convenient. We could have a password but that doesn't have nearly as much impact, and besides, someone could guess it. A handshake would really be best." Otacon nodded reasonably.

Snake shot the window a glance for some reason. "So you want us to come up with a secret handshake?"

"Just for the two of us." Otacon smiled at the thought. "Then we'd be partners in everything for sure, no matter what happens."

"A handshake, huh..." Snake looked at him, still confused, then rolled his eyes. "Okay, come here."

Otacon, despite Snake's claims to the contrary, did not bounce over next to him but walked with great dignity and calm, as befitted such an occasion. It took five minutes for the argument to die down enough for Otacon to remember why he was there in the first place.

"Do you know lots of handshakes?"

Snake blinked at him, probably for changing the topic from whether or not Snake looked ridiculous in sweat pants (which he did, Otacon thought firmly) to something seemingly completely unrelated. Snake eventually rolled his shoulders slightly.

"One or two..."

"Well, we have to make up our own," Otacon said with as much determination as he could muster. "It has to be special, just for the two of us."

Snake raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. Otacon held out one of his hands, staring at it as if expecting it to move on its own power.

"Okay, so let's start with...something like this."

Snake grumbled and held out his own hand to match it. "Look, just do what I do."

"I really think I should also have creative control over this since it's _our_ handshake-"

"Just do what I do, Otacon." That tone in Snake's voice meant an argument was over, and while Otacon sighed loudly, he didn't complain any further. Snake clapped his hand against Otacon's.

"Ow!"

"That did not hurt." Snake grabbed Otacon's hand before he could withdraw it. "Let's just get this over with."

It took a few tries before Otacon could get the hang of the first step. Although Snake had treated his claim of pain with skepticism, he did make his motions more gentle. Each step took a few reiterations before Otacon could do it with any kind of confidence, and while Snake wasn't smiling, he didn't look angry. Otacon _knew_ this was a good idea.

It ended with their hands joined. Snake looked at Otacon with a smirk. Success! Sometimes it took Snake a while to warm up to an idea, and Otacon knew this was one of those times. Already, he felt like the partnership had reached a whole new level of intimacy.

"Are you sure we're ready for a handshake at this point in our relationship?" Snake had such a weird sense of humor. It took Otacon a little while to get used to it at first.

"Well it's too late, we're doing it. No going back now!" A real secret handshake with someone! Otacon had a _secret handshake_ with someone! He always dreamed of having someone he knew well enough to have a secret handshake with, a real and true friend to stick by him through thick and thin.

"Wow." Otacon was staring at their hands and he heard the dreamy, mumbled words before he realized he was saying them. He straightened up and coughed. "A secret handshake."

"I don't understand why it means so much to you." Snake raised an eyebrow and yet, he didn't let go of Otacon's hand.

"It means that we're really partners now! Weren't you listening?" Otacon felt so content, just a kind of warmth spreading through him at the thought and the feeling. A partner who really cared about him, who'd be concerned if he got hurt, who'd provide that loving support he had always wanted for so long.

Before he had a chance to think about his choice of the word "loving", Snake used his grip on Otacon's hand to pull him close and then he was kissing him, right there on the floor.

Secret handshakes were even more amazing than he gave them credit for.


End file.
